Sulforaphane is believed to provide various health benefits, including potential anti-cancer benefits, as described by Horakova et al., Cytotoxic and Cancerostatic Activity of Isothiocyanates and Related Compounds, Neoplasma, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1968). Sulforaphane is an unstable and reactive product. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a nutritional supplement containing components that, when ingested, react within the intestines to provide a source of sulforaphane. The release of sulforaphane in the intestine allows the sulforaphane to be absorbed by the body. This is believed to be beneficial because sulforaphane facilitates detoxification of xenobiotics and other toxins by the liver. Sulforaphane is also a bi-functional inducer of Phase II enzymes, elevating some Phase II enzymes while down regulating others.
It is generally desirable to produce nutritional supplements using natural products. Glucoraphanin, also known as sulforaphane glucosinolate, is a sulfonated (sulfur-bearing) sugar contained in various crucifers, including broccoli seeds, sprouts and florets. Myrosinase is an enzyme also contained in broccoli seeds, sprouts and florets. Myrosinase hydrolyzes glucoraphanin (a glucosinolate) to release sulforaphane (an isothiocyanate). This reaction is redirected to sulforaphane nitrile by epithiospecifier protein (ESP), which is also present in broccoli seeds, sprouts and florets. ESP can be deactivated by heating the broccoli product to a temperature above 140° F., but care must be taken to avoid higher temperatures, as myrosinase can itself be deactivated at temperatures of about 185° F. and above.
In producing a nutritional supplement using broccoli seeds or sprouts, it is generally desirable to first produce a glucoraphanin rich meal, as it is the glucoraphanin that provides a source of sulforaphane. Higher concentrations of glucoraphanin in the meal can result in release of more sulforaphane from the nutritional supplement. There are various known methods that may be used to produce a glucoraphanin rich meal. For example, it has been known to produce a glucoraphanin rich meal using supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) to remove the natural oils present in the broccoli. Natural oils can comprise 30% to 50% of the weight of the broccoli seed or sprout. In one process for producing a glucoraphanin rich meal, described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0081138, broccoli seeds, sprouts or florets are deoiled by SCFE using carbon dioxide. The broccoli material is first ground, milled, chopped or flaked. Flake rolling opens or stretches the cells to allow access of the supercritical CO2 to the cells for extraction of the oils. The broccoli material is then fed into a supercritical CO2 chamber for batch-wise supercritical extraction of the oil to create a glucoraphanin rich meal. Depending upon the temperature, pressure and time used for the SCFE process, up to 98% of the oil in the broccoli material can be extracted.
To avoid unwanted reaction of myrosinase with the glucoraphanin, the myrosinase in the broccoli material is typically deactivated before or during the SCFE process. Prior nutritional supplements then combined the glucoraphanin rich meal with myrosinase obtained separately from broccoli or other sources. Various processes for water extraction of myrosinase from broccoli or other crucifers that contain myrosinase are known. These or other processes have been used in the past to provide myrosinase.
It would be desirable to have a broccoli based nutritional supplement in which myrosinase is provided in its natural form in broccoli. Accordingly, the present invention provides a nutritional supplement, and a process for producing the nutritional supplement, in which a first deoiled broccoli powder which is rich in glucoraphanin is combined with a second broccoli powder containing active myrosinase.